Evaluating and valuing in social research / Thomas A. Schwandt, Emily F. Gates.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwandt, Thomas A., author.

Gates, Emily F., author.

Contributor:

ProQuest ebook central.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Research.

Social sciences.

Social sciences--Methodology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York : The Guilford Press, [2021]

System Details:

text file

Contents:

1 Expanding the Conversation on Research Ethics p. 1

Box 1.1 An Ethical Framework for Evaluating Policy Options Defining the COVID-19 Reopening Process p. 3

Challenging the Bureaucratization of Research Ethics p. 7

Expanding the Idea of the Responsible Conduct of Research p. 9

Recognizing the Contextual Dynamics of Ethical Considerations p. 13

Box 1.2 Ethical Issues to be Considered in Using Social Media for Evidence Generation p. 14

Box 1.3 Example of Specific Ethical Principles for Research with Indigenous Peoples p. 16

Focusing Anew on Ethical Reasoning p. 17

Expanding the Understanding of Researchers' Social Responsibility p. 19

Box 1.4 Notes on Ethical Reasoning p. 20

Important Resources p. 26

Bridge to Practice p. 28

2 From Value Neutrality to Morally Informed Research p. 31

Value-Free Science p. 32

Box 2.1 The Case for Value Neutrality p. 33

Central Features p. 33

Criticisms p. 36

Beyond the Fact-Value Dichotomy p. 36

Box 2.2 Racism and Health p. 37

Sources of Valuing Perspectives Inherent in Social Research p. 39

Values Influencing Scientific Reasoning p. 43

Legitimate and Illegitimate Roles for Values p. 44

Rethinking the Science-Society Relationship p. 46

Alternative Stances to the Value-Free Ideal: Neutrality and Partisanship p. 49

Neutrality in Research p. 49

Partisan Social Research p. 51

Box 2.3 Political Partisanship and Neutrality p. 51

Box 2.4 Taking Sides? p. 53

Decoupling Objectivity and the Value-Free Ideal p. 55

Box 2.5 Some Senses of Objectivity Other Than "Value-Free" p. 56

Toward a Morally Informed Social Science p. 57

The Purpose of the Social Sciences p. 58

The Social Scientist as Moral Agent p. 59

A Concern with Morality versus Moralism and Moralizing p. 60

Synopsis of the Stances p. 61

Important Resources p. 62

Bridge to Practice p. 63

3 The Conventional Frame for Evaluating Social Interventions p. 65

Box 3.1 Examples of the Centrality of Evaluation to Programming and Policymaking p. 66

Features of the Conventional Frame p. 67

The Impetus for Evaluating p. 67

Focus on Empirical Investigations of the Effects of Planned Interventions p. 68

Box 3.2 Examples of Social Interventions in the Public Health Field p. 69

Circumscribed Scope and Audience p. 72

Betterment and Learning p. 73

Social Problem-Solving and Solution-Driven Approach p. 75

Reducing Uncertainty via Evidence Generation p. 78

Technical, Expert-Driven Approach p. 83

Stakeholder Participation p. 83

Evaluating as Determining Performance p. 84

Important Resources p. 86

Bridge to Practice: Making the Case for or against the Mainstream Frame of Evaluating p. 87

4 Expanding the Conventional Frame for Evaluating p. 89

Distinguishing Evaluating from Social Research p. 90

The Relevance of Critical Thinking and Bias Control p. 92

From Goals- and Objective-Focused to Question-and Criteria-Driven Evaluating p. 94

Criteria Expanded p. 95

Box 4.1 Domains of Criteria p. 96

Box 4.2 OECD/DAC Criteria for Evaluating Interventions in International Development p. 97

Question-Based Approaches p. 98

Expanding Stakeholders from Commissioners to Those Involved and Affected p. 98

Using Performance Standards as the Basis for Making Evaluative Judgments p. 102

Key Performance Indicators p. 102

Benchmarking p. 103

Rubrics p. 105

Box 4.3 IDRC Dimensions of Research Quality and Illustration of a Sample Rubric p. 106

Roles of the Evaluator, Stakeholders, and Public in Evaluating p. 107

Important Resources p. 109

Bridge to Practice p. 110

5 An Emerging Alternative Frame for Evaluating p. 113

Situated, Practical Reasoning p. 116

Systems Thinking and Complexity Science p. 120

Boundary Critique p. 124

Co-Production and Deliberation p. 128

Activity Model of Intervention Aimed at Social Learning p. 129

Self-Determination and System Change as Stimuli for Evaluation p. 131

Indigenous Research and Evaluation Approaches p. 131

Approaches to System Transformation p. 133

Developing Value p. 134

Important Resources p. 137

Bridge to Practice p. 138

6 Evaluating as a Multi-faceted Investigation of Value p. 140

The Rippel Foundation's ReThink Health Initiative p. 141

Purposive and Purposeful Change p. 142

Change Process Co-Developed with System Stewards and Guided by the Pathway p. 144

Change Process as Cycles of Problem Framing, Learning, and Action p. 147

Boundary Critique, Values Deliberation, and Evidence Generation p. 149

Evaluating for Learning and Field Building p. 151

Evaluating to Examine Progress against Theorized Change Processes p. 152

Evaluating as Situated Deliberation and Learning within Initiatives p. 153

Appendix 6.A Methods Appendix p. 155

7 Valuing, Evaluating, and Professional Responsibility p. 160

Key Commitments p. 163

Evaluating to Learn and to Act p. 163

Primacy of Practice (Praxis) p. 166

Epistemology and Politics of Participation p. 168

Box 7.1 Principles for Successful Public Engagement Processes p. 169

Expertise and Responsibility p. 174

Box 7.2 Three Emphases of the Work of the Social Critic p. 178

Improvement Revisited p. 179

Box 7.3 Assumptions of the Conventional Theory of Change p. 182

Implications for Researcher Education p. 184

Implications for Research on Evaluation p. 185

Important Resources p. 187

Bridge to Practice p. 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781462547364

1462547362

Publisher Number:

40030723795

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.